To Be, Act 1
"To Be, Act 1" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy, and the series' fifty-second episode overall. Summary In the aftermath of Clay's shooting, Jax's cover up puts Tig on the hunt and Laroy in danger. While on the verge of the Irish/Cartel meeting, Juice and Bobby's disappearance puts the club on edge. Gemma reveals family history in an attempt to pull Jax closer, while Tara makes certain of her family's departure from Charming. Plot Seconds after Opie pulls the trigger. Clay isn't dead yet. Opie starts to fire again, but Jax shoots him in the gun hand. Unser pulls up to the clubhouse and comes in to see the carnage. Clay gasps, telling them to take him out into the garage. He tells Unser to clean up the blood. They concoct a story that two black guys did it. Jax drives off with Opie. Gemma wakes up in bed, thinking something's wrong. Unser sits down with Clay as sirens approach. Jax drives angry. "I'm going to kill him," Opie says. Jax wants a chance to find out what happened. Opie tells him to talk to his mom and that Gemma and Unser know Clay killed Piney and tried to pass it off as the cartel. Jax tells Opie to lay low while he finds the truth, but it's apparent that Jax's word doesn't mean much to Opie. Doctors tend to Clay in the ER. Unser gives Roosevelt a story about seeing a black Yukon with tinted widows pulling out of the garage and finding Clay barely conscious. Tig and Chibs want more info. Tig blames himself. Gemma shows up. Clay's critical. One of the bullets hit a lung. Gemma tells the doctors to just keep him alive. Roosevelt joins Lincoln in his bunker, where he's prepping furiously for the Irish meeting. Tara finds Jax in the shower trying to wash all the blood off. He tells Tara he's not sure who shot Clay and he's still getting out after the Irish meet. She's skeptical. He tells her she's not thinking clearly. She thinks she is, but he tells her rage can feel that way. She asks him to tell her he loves her. He does. He asks if she feels the same. "If I could stop, I would," she says, but doesn't sound happy about it. Jax checks with Filthy Phil, telling him to keep watch on Tara. Jax goes back to the hospital, where Clay is back in surgery. No one's heard from Bobby or Juice. They know Bobby signed into prison, but didn't sign out, so Jax is off to Stockton State Prison‏‎ to look for answers. Tig waits in a stolen car with a gun until he sees Laroy (Tory Kittles) and some of his Niners. He follows. Gemma comes to check on Tara. She's packing. "Another vacation?" Gemma asks. "Yep. Because the first one went so well," she says sarcastically. Gemma tells Tara that Opie shot Clay because Clay killed Piney because he thought he had the letters. Tara says Piney never even saw them. Gemma tells Tara that Clay's the one who tried to have her killed, hiring the men who came after her. She tells Tara about the money in the safe and that he beat her when she confronted him. Gemma knows Clay will keep hurting everyone and everything in his path until he gets the letters. Gemma wants to give the letters to Clay, saying she's out of options. "This may be the only way we get out of this alive," Gemma says. Gemma knows that means Tara and Jax are leaving. Tara gives Gemma the keys to the storage unit and tells her where to find them. Tara asks Gemma if she loves her, in the cold demanding way she asked it of Jax. Gemma says she does. Jax meets with Lenny the Pimp (Sonny Barger) in prison. He says Otto made a deal to get him visitation after meeting with a Fed attorney. Lenny says he'll wait to hear from them. Tig lies in wait for Laroy to finish up eating outside at a café with his girl. He gets impatient and speeds down the sidewalk and into the tables, sending people flying. Laroy gets out of the way, but his girlfriend is down after being struck and flung through the window. A Niner vehicle takes off after the crash car as Laroy goes inside and see his girlfriend lifeless in a pool of blood. Gemma retrieves the letters. She sees another box of John Teller's things and goes through it. She finds old photos of her with John. She reads the letters. Tig ditches his stolen car and hops on his bike, calling someone to meet him. He's putting on his helmet when an SUV and two other cars tear around the corner. He races off with the Niner vehicles in pursuit. Gemma takes one letter out of the pile and puts it in her purse. Jax meets with Romeo and Luis telling them Otto might have flipped. He thinks that means too big of a risk for the meeting with the Irish today. Romeo says their contacts can find out about Otto. He tells Luis to call Medina. Tig calls Jax, telling him he needs an escort home. Laroy and his guys race after Tig on the highway as the Sons on their bikes race toward him. The Sons catch up and change directions, circling Tig. Laroy orders his driver to keep on them. They hit traffic. The guys on their bikes split up and race past on the cub, Laroy follows in his SUV. Jax fires at them and hits the driver. Laroy gets left in the dust. The Sons make it back to the safety of the garage. Jax is pissed at Tig, saying it was a club call. Tig doesn't care if he starts a war. Happy is also sure it's Laroy who was responsible for shooting Clay. "He's got to die, like a lot," he says. Romeo calls Jax and tells him his best information is that Otto never sold out the club. He's sure it's accurate and wants the meet to go forward. Jax gets Chibs on finding out where Juice and Bobby are. Tig visits Clay in the hospital, where he's out of surgery, but unconscious. Tig apologizes for not having Clay's back and turning in his Sergeant at Arms patch. He says he's having a hard time wrapping his head around Clay stepping down. Gemma comes in and she tells him it's not his fault. Gemma looks at Clay's unconscious form and tells him only "sorry" before she leaves. Gemma finds Jax going over Clay's things back at the clubhouse. He asks what happened to Piney. Clay killed him, she says. She says it wasn't about the cartel and gives him the letters, saying Tara found them. She explains that when Jax's brother Thomas got sick, JT started writing to Maureen. JT and Kellan decided to get the MC out of guns, Clay thought it was a mistake, so he decided to kill him. The first time Clay sent John into a Mayan ambush, unprotected. JT made it out, but he knew it was Clay who set it up and he knew Clay would try again. "He predicted it would be mechanical, he was right," Gemma says. The only person JT ever let work on his bike was Lowell Sr., and she figures Clay paid him off to sabotage it. Lowell Sr. was killed by the Mayans a week later. "Clay buried the secret," she says. The speculation is in the letters and Clay knew those letters would prove it. Jax thinks Piney got ahold of the letters. Gemma tells him that's not all, and tells him about finding the cover letter from Maureen and telling Clay. Jax starts to realize what this means. "He tried to kill Tara," she says. "The thing in the park wasn't the cartel, it was guys Clay hired. "Tara didn't want Jax to read the letter because she wasn't sure what he would do.He asks why she's telling him now. "Because I know how dangerous secrets can be and it's time we all knew the truth. Clay Morrow killed your father, stole that seat away from this family, gunned down your father's best friend. He tried to kill your wife. He's a murderous traitor. And there's only one thing to do now, Jackson, for your father, your family and your club. It's in you. It's who you are. Clay has to die," she says. Jax takes it all in. She urges him to read the letter, then kill Clay before he can strike first. When it's done, she tells him to take his place at the head of the table, where a Teller belongs. "Where you belong," she says. She leaves Jax alone to read. Gemma waits outside the garage. Unser tells her Clay should be out of intensive care in a few days. and asks what happens next. "Things are in motion," she says. She tells him Jax is reading the letters. He's not happy. "Not all of them, we're protected," she says. "Clay, not so much. Tara arrives. She asks about the letters and if she gave them to Clay. Gemma says only no. "How many did you take out before you gave them to Jax?" Tara says, on to her. Gemma asks why she told her if she knew. "Because I'm smarter than you are, Gemma. And I know Jax better than you," Tara says. Jax joins the women in his life. He tells Tara she should have told him. She apologizes. "I have to kill him, Tara," he says. "I know," she says, taking something out of her bag. "And this is how you do it." She gives him a hypodermic syringe filled with blood thinner. She tells him how to inject it. Gemma looks impressed. Chibs calls Jax to go to the Irish meet. "You kill him, then you come and get me and our boys and drive us out of this poisonous town," Tara says. Jax promises he will. Gemma seems to know she lost. Jax leaves. Gemma asks Tara what she's doing. "Everything you taught me. He's mine," Tara says. Jax gets on his bike for the meet. Clay lies in his hospital bed. Church meetings (There were no meetings during this episode) Deaths Veronica Pope - Ran over by Tig. Unnamed Niner - Shot by Jax during chase. TJ - Shot by Chibs during chase. Credits Main Cast * Charlie Hunnam as Jackson 'Jax' Teller * Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow * Mark Boone Junior as Bobby 'Elvis' Munson (credit only) * Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser * Kim Coates as Alex 'Tig' Trager * Tommy Flanagan as Filip 'Chibs' Telford * Ryan Hurst as Harry 'Opie' Winston * William Lucking as Piermont 'Piney' Winston (credit only) * Theo Rossi as Juan Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz * Maggie Siff as Tara Knowles * Ron Perlman as Clarence 'Clay' Morrow Supporting Cast Special guest stars *Sonny Barger as Lenny 'The Pimp' Janowitz *Danny Trejo as Romero 'Romeo' Parada *Rockmond Dunbar as Eli Roosevelt *Ray McKinnon as Lincoln Potter Guest stars *Michael Marisi Ornstein as Chuck Marstein *Benito Martinez as Luis Torres *David Rees Snell as Agent Grad Nicholas *Tory Kittles as Laroy Wayne *David Labrava as Happy *Christopher Douglas Reed as Philip 'Filthy Phil' Russell *Niko Nicotera as George 'Ratboy' Skogstrom *Walter Wong as Chris 'V-Lin' Von Lin Co-stars *LaMonica Garrett as Deputy Chief Cane *Dominic Flores as E.R. Doctor *Kim McCullouch as Nurse #1 *Andrea Toledo as Nurse #2 Featured Music * Tig listens to "Crimson & Clover" by Tommy James & The Shondells in a stolen car while he's stalking Laroy * Bob Thiele - "Ghost Letters" * AWOLNATION - "Burn It Down" (playing during the chase with Laroy) * Ryan Horne - "Terrible Tommy" (playing while Jax is reading JT's letters) Category:Season 4 episodes Category:Season 4